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1944 - Marinette Eagle-Star, Marinette, Marinette County, Wisconsin

“VETERAN - Jack Boyle’s dog Pal, a six-year-old German short-haired pointer, came home from the war yesterday minus a tail, a little lighter in color, sleeker and sharp as a razor. “He came in barking ‘Buy Bonds’,” Boyle said, “or at least that’s what it sounded like to me. It took him several minutes to get his bearings, but from then on he seemed to be right at home.” Boyle intends to keep Pal leashed for several days, but it probably won’t take him long to get back to his favorite haunts such as Blasky’s barber shop and several other hangouts. “He sure obeys commands,” Boyle said “when he gets an order to ‘down’ he gets down and stays down.” Jack fears that his wife, observing the improvements in Pal, may prescribe a twist in the Army for him too.”

Wednesday, November 26, 1947 - Marinette Eagle-Star, Marinette, Wisconsin

“PAL, MARINETTE’S LONE VET OF CANINE ARMY, DIES HERE TODAY

Pal is dead!
Though he was one of the best known veterans of World War II in these parts, he belonged to no service club and was what some folks would call a “loner.” He had a few close friends, of course, among them the chef at Olsen’s Cafe where he called regularly for a hand-out. But he always called at the kitchen door and didn’t mingle with the paid customers who came in the front way. Pal had no pension, though his enlistment record shows he entered the service August 6, 1942 and was honorably discharged February 4, 1944 after considerable service in the South Pacific. And he was a disabled veteran in a sense. You see, Pal was Jack Boyle’s German short-haired pointer and had his long tail amputated before he was accepted for canine service. That’s where the disability comes in. In short, Pal was one of the best known dogs in the state - a big lumbering dog born June 12, 1936 that lived to a rather ripe old age, as dogdom goes. He was a friend of everyone before he entered the service, but he wasn’t the same Pal after he returned. Maybe the South Pacific took too much out of him and maybe he couldn’t forget some of the tricks. At any rate, it was no longer a case of anywhere Jack would go the dog was sure to follow. Jack Boyle and the dog were still good friends, of course, even though Jack squawked about the price of meat and perhaps approved Pal’s daily call at the restaurant. But somehow the dog and Jack drifted apart. War does strange things, it seems, even to dogs. And now Pal and Jack are parted forever, for Pal died this morning. Death was attributed to debilities that creep up with age.”